March Madness 2016: NCAA Tournament Dates, Bracket Release TV Schedule

Selection Sunday looms alongside the madness.

In a perfect world, the selection process strips away programs and names and faces, instead using hard data to determine the best and most deserving teams destined to enter the bracket and dishing the rest to the NIT (which looks superb this year with so many conference upsets this month).

Again, in a perfect world, though. It's heartbreaker season, too, as the bracket release television broadcast will once again have a camera at most locales, capturing the joy or disappointment of the reveal.

Here's a look at the schedule for the madness and reveal. Plan accordingly.

2016 NCAA Tournament Schedule

Date	Round	Location(s)
March 15, 16	First Four	UD Arena (Dayton, Ohio)
March 17, 19	First/Second Rounds	Dunkin Donuts Center (Providence, R.I.); Wells Fargo Arena (Des Moines, Iowa); PNC Arena (Raleigh, N.C.); Pepsi Center (Denver)
March 18, 20	First/Second Rounds	Barclays Center (Brooklyn, N.Y.); Scottrade Center (St. Louis); Chesapeake Energy Arena (Oklahoma City); Spokane Arena (Spokane, Wash.)
March 24, 26	West Regional (Sweet 16, Elite Eight)	Honda Center (Anaheim, Calif.)
March 24, 26	South Regional (Sweet 16, Elite Eight)	KFC Yum! Center (Louisville, Ky.)
March 25, 27	Midwest Regional (Sweet 16, Elite Eight)	United Center (Chicago)
March 25, 27	East Regional (Sweet 16, Elite Eight)	Wells Fargo Center (Philadelphia)
April 2	Final Four (Semifinals)	NRG Stadium (Houston)
April 4	Championship Game	NRG Stadium (Houston)

Bracket Release TV Schedule

When: Sunday, March 13 at 5:30 p.m. ET

TV: CBS

Bubble Teams to Watch 

Monmouth

Willie J. Allen/Associated Press

Monmouth might stand as the most interesting team on the bubble.

The Hawks out of the MAAC can't do much to get major games against nonconfernce opponents, but they still drummed up a 27-7 mark and rank 57th in ESPN's RPI rankings. 

Not only that, the Hawks managed to go 2-2 against the RPI top 50, stealing multiple wins against Notre Dame and USC. A 10-4 mark against the top 150 looks great, especially when one considers the team played a whopping 23 games on the road.

Sports Illustrated's Seth Davis helped make the case:

The bad? Other than a small stature and not the most impressive strength of schedule (206), the Hawks took a loss on March 7 to Iona, throwing a guarantee out the window.

In the above mentioned world, does Monmouth look like it deserves to go dancing? Probably. Would a team led by Justin Robinson (19.5 points per game) with six shooters hitting better than 30 percent of their shots from deep make for a fun time and a potential upset bid? Of course.

Will the selection committee agree? Such a dilemma is what makes Selection Sunday such a spectacle.

Valparaiso

Duane Burleson/Associated Press

Valparaiso is another team that simply cannot do much to secure major matchups to improve the resume thanks to sitting in the Horizon League.

Behind 18 points per game from Alec Peters and the team hitting 36 percent of its shots from deep, though, the Crusaders tallied a 26-6 mark. Great, but they suffered the same fate as the Hawks, taking an ugly overtime loss to Green Bay on March 7, slapping them on the bubble.

Still it's hard to scoff at the Crusaders too much. They've proved they can win, totaling a 4-2 mark against the RPI top 100, the two losses coming by just six (at Oregon) and four (at Belmont) points.

ESPN's Joe Lunardi has Valparaiso as one of his first four out in bracketology projections, which again personifies the struggles of a smaller school. Sports reporter Paul Oren painted the picture well:

The best-case scenario seems like a chance at a play-in game for the Crusaders. Maybe not fair given the circumstances, but with the way Valpo has looked all year, they would at least get to prove they belong.

Maybe the committee will look past the inability to get bigger games and, as Davis pointed out, winning the games they could get against proven competition.

If Valparaiso does sneak in, Peters and Co. go from bubble team to bracket buster in a hurry.

Syracuse

Nick Lisi/Associated Press

Syracuse joins the Crusaders in Lunardi's first four out.

At face value, it makes sense considering the Orange boast just a 19-13 record and sit ninth in the ACC. Face value is tricky, though, considering the program still sits 68th in RPI with a 41st strength of schedule.

There is another major factor at play, too—Syracuse went without coach Jim Boeheim for the first nine games of the season due to suspension and totaled a 4-5 mark.

In fact, someone on the committee has already come out and said the suspension will have an impact, according to Syracuse Basketball:

From the sounds of it, the Orange should go dancing. At the same time, though, one has to keep in mind they lost five of their last six, including ending the season on a sour note with a 72-71 loss to Pittsburgh.

On the court, Syracuse is a ton of fun. Four starters average more than 10 points per game, led by the can't-miss Michael Gbinije, who averages 17.8 points and shoots 41 percent from deep.

Off it, though, one has to wonder if a suspension at the start of the season will impact the end of the season by knocking a Monmouth or Syracuse out of the Big Dance.

Call it the top storyline of Selection Sunday. And did anyone mention this is why the event is such a must-see spectacle?

Stats and information courtesy of ESPN unless otherwise specified. Advanced metrics courtesy of ESPN.